Due to the growth of ecommerce, the lines between digital and physical stores have become blurred. Options have increased for customers, and even if they purchase a product in-store, they first check its features and price online. That means hard work for a retailer like you, given it’s no longer enough to only offer quality products—you also need a strong online footprint to attract customers.
A well-planned retail digital marketing strategy will help you market your products online and connect with more customers. It’ll improve your company’s visibility, even if you already have an ecommerce store. You’ll be able to offer an omnichannel shopping experience, which will help increase customer engagement and brand loyalty.
In this article, we discuss the top three digital marketing tips to help drive profits and improve customer experience for your retail business.
Why should you have a digital marketing strategy?
Your business needs a digital retail marketing strategy because the majority of your customers are online. In 2021, over 2.14 billion people across the globe are expected to make online purchases. A digital presence has also become necessary due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the shut down of many physical stores.
The right digital marketing techniques will increase your visibility, making it easier for customers to find you online. And that’s helpful because most buyers research products online before heading to the store. According to a study, 82% of shoppers review products online before making an in-store purchase.
Top 3 digital marketing tips for your retail business
If you want your retail operations to succeed, use a mix of traditional and new forms of marketing. These three digital marketing tips will help your retail business, both online and offline, increase sales by delivering the right messages through the right channels.
1. Make your website SEO-friendly
Search engine optimization (SEO) helps your website rank better on search engine results, which increases the chances of more visitors clicking through to your site. The first organic result on Google Search has an average click-through rate of 28.5%. The percentage falls as the SEO rank decreases, with the tenth rank having a click-through rate of only 2.5%.
According to a Gartner report, retail marketing leaders allocated 11.1% and 8.3% of their total marketing budget to website and SEO improvement, respectively, in 2020 (full content available to Gartner clients only). These figures highlight the growing significance of SEO among retail marketing companies like yours.
2. Create engaging content and market it well
Content marketing is a cost-effective digital marketing strategy that lets you promote your retail brand with the help of content. Create blog posts, product content, videos, infographics, social media posts, newsletters, white papers, and more.
Your content need not be only sales-oriented; it can also be informational in nature. For instance, if you sell trekking equipment, create informational posts such as how beginners should prepare for their first trek. You can even include videos on the experiences of seasoned trekkers, mentioning how your products helped them during their journey.
Once your content is ready, the next step is promoting it via the right channels. Share your content on social media platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram), online communities, professional networking sites (e.g., LinkedIn), and partner networks. You can also opt for paid social media promotions, influencer marketing, and web advertisements.
Pro tip: To make your content more engaging and easy to consume, create bite-sized pieces. Infographics, short videos, quotes, and snippets will all help make your content snackable. Also, have a “share” button on your website, so readers can share your content on their networks, which will increase visibility for your brand.
3. Get email marketing right to create brand awareness
Email marketing is a digital marketing method that lets you personalize communication for customers. It allows you to promote your products and services as well as keep in regular touch with customers, both new and existing.
It lets you segment your email contacts and personalize content per the needs of your target audience. Personalization can be via any way that delights your customers—catchy headlines, clear calls to action, personalized recommendations, discount coupons, exclusive mobile-only offers, and more.
SHOC, an ecommerce retail store that sells sports products, was launching a new series of products on its website. For its new undertaking, the company wanted to increase its online presence and sales.
SHOC used an email marketing tool to drive revenue and nurture email leads. Using the tool, it deployed pop-ups to capture lead details for email campaigns. It conducted contests via email, specifically a photo contest, to drive traffic to its website. It also ran an email marketing campaign containing customized pay-per-click (PPC) ads for its new products.
As a result, on the first day of its product launch, SHOC collected over $12,000 in sales, and within seven days, sales crossed $20,000. In the next few days, SHOC acquired $45,000 more in sales.
If you’re new to email marketing, follow these simple tips to run a successful campaign:
- Understand the needs of your customers, and customize your email content to match their needs.
- Take customers’ permission before sending them any email. Allow them to sign up themselves. Provide a subscription form on your website where they can submit their email addresses.
- Don’t bombard customers with emails. Too many emails can make your subscribers unsubscribe. Choose a frequency that neither overwhelms your subscribers nor hurts engagement for your business.
- Use an email marketing tool to track the results of your campaign—how many subscribers opened your email, how many clicked on the hyperlinks, etc.
Don’t ignore digital marketing if you want your retail business to succeed
Digital marketing is one of the best ways to grow your retail business. It offers a variety of strategies—from SEO optimization to content and email marketing—to help you reach your goals. If you’re looking to enhance retail sales and online visibility, digital marketing is a good bet.
Here’s a quick recap of how you can make the best of retail digital marketing:
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